03.09. Eternal Promises to the City, Jerusalem
CHAPTER NINE Eternal Promises to the City, Jerusalem
PREACHERS and Bible teachers have fallen into an evil way of spiritualizing the Word of God, explaining away the promises and making the Bible mean what it does not say. In many editions of the Bible, men have defiled the Word of God with their opinions which explain away the literal meaning of the inspired Book. At the top of pages or chapters where God promised good to Israel, men have written "God’s promise to the church." When God’s Word prophesies good to Jerusalem or to Mount Zion, or prophesies about the future of Mount Zion, such learned teachers and preachers often say that God did not mean what He said at all, but referred to Heaven. They are wrong, utterly, foolishly, presumptuously, wickedly wrong! The Bible says what it means and means what it says. God has an eternal plan connected with the literal city of Jerusalem in Palestine, which is so plainly foretold that honest Bible students must accept it. Mount Zion is "the southwest hill of Jerusalem, the older and higher part of the city; it is often called, the city of David" (Young’s Analytical Concordance). The term "Mount Zion" is often used for the whole city of Jerusalem.
If you want to understand what God says in the Bible about Jerusalem, then remember this: always the name Jerusalem refers to the literal city of Jerusalem in Palestine, unless the Scripture ndicates otherwise. Five times in the Bible, in Gal 4:26, Heb 12:22, Rev 3:12, Rev 21:2, and Rev 11:10, the word "Jerusalem" refers to the heavenly city which will one day come down to Palestine on the site of the old Jerusalem, hundreds of times "Jerusalem" means the city now in Palestine. The other five times it refers to the heavenly city which will one day be on the same site, literally and actually a new Jerusalem.
Likewise Mount Zion is used in the Bible scores of times as synonymous with the city of Jerusalem. Once, certainly (Heb 12:22), possibly again (Rev 14:1), Mount Zion is used as synonymous with the heavenly Jerusalem. The rest of the time, everywhere in the Bible, the term "Mount Zion" means the literal hill on which the older part of Jerusalem will be built, and it is used as synonymous with the city Jerusalem.
If you would understand the Scriptures and know God’s plans and promises, then take literally His promises about Jerusalem and Mount Zion.
Mount Moriah, Where Abraham Offered Isaac, the Site of the Temple and Jerusalem
God had selected Jerusalem as the permanent capital of Palestine and the center of temple worship, even before the children of Israel took the land. Did Abraham know, when he took his son Isaac three days journey to sacrifice him by faith on Mount Moriah, that Mount Moriah was the very spot where later Solomon would be instructed to build the temple? Perhaps by faith Abraham did know that, for we are told that he "looked for a city"! (Heb 11:10). God had some purpose in bringing there to the temple site that sacrifice picturing the coming Saviour. When the children of Israel were encamped west of the Jordan River, and Moses gave them their final instructions and charges before he should die and they should enter the promised land of Canaan, the Lord revealed to them that He would choose the place for His sacrifices and eventually for the temple, which He already had in mind. Deu 12:5-6 says:
"But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come: And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill-offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks."
Five times in that chapter that place is mentioned, in only slightly different words, as ’the place which the Lord God shall choose to cause His name to dwell there.’
David was led to make his capital at Jerusalem when a great plague came on the entire nation because of David’s sin in numbering the people.
"And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite. And David spake unto the Lord when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father’s house. And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the Lord in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite" (2Sa 24:16-18). In obedience to the Lord’s command by the mouth of the prophet Gad, David bought the threshingfloor of Araunah and built there "an altar to the Lord" and the plague was stayed.
GOD HAD HIS HEART SET ON JERUSALEM! Looking down through the years to His future plans for the city, God loved it and would not let it be destroyed. He said to the angel, "Stay now thine hand"! The Threshingfloor of Araunah Was the Site of Solomon’s Temple And what about this threshingfloor of Araunah, or Oman? It was on the very spot where God would later have His temple built by Solomon, David’s Son!
2Ch 3:1 tells us, "Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Oman the Jebusite." Where God commanded Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice is where God commanded David to offer a sacrifice to stay the plague. There God His temple built, the place of sacrifice. From the beginning God planned an eternal destiny for Jerusalem and its holy environs.
God’s Name Placed Perpetually at Jerusalem
God placed His name at Jerusalem forever, and His plan for the city and the temple site reaches on into the literal reign of Christ on earth when all Israel shall be regathered to their own land, and when that great Seed of David shall return and establish forever David’s throne and rule thereon. In 1Ki 9:1-3 we are told how God has made an unchanging choice of the site of the temple and of Jerusalem.
"And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the Lord, and the king’s house, and all Solomon’s desire which he was pleased to do, That the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon. And the Lord said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, TO PUT MY NAME THERE FOR EVER; AND MINE EYES AND MINE HEART SHALL BE THERE PERPETUALLY" (1Ki 9:1-3). The same thing is told in 2Ch 7:15-16 in the following words:
"Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually."
Note that God said that He would place there His name, His eyes, His heart!
God’s name, on this earth, He wants ever connected with the city Jerusalem! His eyes watch continually over that place! His heart is there! Notice, too, that God said this was "for ever," and again "perpetually." Even about Jerusalem, then, the Scripture is true that "the gifts and calling of God are without repentance" (Rom 11:29).
God will not change His plans concerning that city Jerusalem and the site of His temple there on Mount Moriah. It must have been for this reason that God repented of the evil that He had planned to do to Jerusalem and said to the angel He had sent to destroy it, "Stay now thine hand" (1Ch 21:15; 2Sa 24:16).
All the prophets of the Old Testament knew about God’s eternal purpose and covenant concerning Jerusalem, and it is often mentioned. Notice the following Scriptures:
"For David said, The Lord God of Israel hath given rest unto his people., that they may dwell in Jerusalem for ever" (1Ch 23:25).
"Also he built altars in the house of the Lord, whereof the Lord had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever" (2Ch 33:4).
"And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the Lord said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever" (2Ki 21:7).
Joel tells us of the time when Christ shall be "the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more" (Joe 3:17). In that time, we are told: "But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion" (Joe 3:20-21). Surely Joel, writing the prophecy, knew God’s plan to place His name perpetually at Jerusalem as the center and joy of the whole earth, the city of the Great King.
Micah foretold that Jerusalem was to be the center of the plan of Christ on earth. Notice the terms: "the mountain of the house of the Lord," "the mountain of the Lord," "the house of the God of Jacob," "Zion," "Jerusalem." These words mean just what they say.
- The "house" is the temple at Jerusalem.
- The "mountain" is the literal Mount Zion on which the older part of Jerusalem was built.
- Mount Moriah is the site of the temple adjoining Mount Zion, and is within the city. In the Bible the prophets everywhere used such terms referring to the city of Jerusalem. Micah said:
"But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Mic 4:1-2).
"And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever" (Mic 4:7).
Isaiah tells us that:
"In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem" (Isa 4:2-3). This glory to be on Jerusalem is yet future, as Isa 4:5-6 undeniably show.
Daniel and Nehemiah Knew God’s Eternal Plan for Jerusalem The prophets seem to have known how God always looked upon Jerusalem. For this reason, Daniel, captive in the foreign land of Babylon, prayed three times a day with his window open toward Jerusalem (Dan 6:10). For this reason Daniel prayed,
"O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from THY CITY JERUSALEM, THY HOLY MOUNTAIN: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, JERUSALEM and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon THY SANCTUARY THAT IS DESOLATE, for the Lord’s sake. O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: FOR THY CITY AND THY PEOPLE ARE CALLED BY THY NAME" (Dan 9:16-19).
Daniel knew that though the city of Jerusalem then lay waste, that God Himself would see that it was rebuilt. Though the temple, the sanctuary of God, was then vacant, God Himself had placed His name there perpetually! Daniel knew that God had further plans for Palestine and Israel and the city Jerusalem and the site of the temple there!
Nehemiah, knowing God’s promises about the city, fasted and prayed with weeping when he heard that the wall of Jerusalem was broken down and the gates thereof were burned with fire. Something of this must have been in the heart of Jesus Himself when He looked on the city He loved and said:
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Mat 23:37-39). In these brief verses, how much is told! The love of Jesus for the Holy City, Jerusalem, and for the Jews; the certain destruction of the city and the temple; and also, thank God, we are told that Israel, in Jerusalem, shall one day cry out, when they see Jesus in person, "Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord!"
Jerusalem, "the City of the Great King" In the prophets and Psalms, Jerusalem is a famous theme. In Psa 48:1-2, the importance of Jerusalem in the plan of God is shown.
"Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King." The Psalmist wrote, not primarily for his own time, but looking into the future, he was inspired to know that the time would come when Jerusalem should be "the joy of the whole earth."
Jerusalem was "the city of the great King," but that King mentioned was not David nor Solomon, but a coming King. Jesus Himself quoted that phrase in Mat 5:35 saying that none should swear by Jerusalem "for it is the city of the great King."
There would be no blasphemy in taking the name of a man in vain. This great King is Jesus, the Son of God, very God Himself. No one should swear by Jerusalem, because it is the city of Jesus, the great King-not because it is the city of King David. This proves surely that the literal city of Jerusalem will be the center of the reign of Christ. That coming great King will sit on His throne at Jerusalem, and then Jerusalem shall be the joy of the whole earth. When the Saviour returns to reign, when Israel is regathered and converted, when Jesus sits in the literal city of Jerusalem on the throne of David, then these prophecies about Jerusalem will be fulfilled.
Jerusalem Will Be "the Joy of the Whole Earth" In the days of David and Solomon, Jerusalem was a great city. The wealth of Jerusalem was its temple, palaces, and princes which were widely known. But Jerusalem was not "the joy of the whole earth." Other cities had their palaces and kings reigning over more people than David or Solomon. Other cities had their worship of idols and heathen deities, attended by more people than the worship of God at Jerusalem. David was a king, but not THE great King.
These verses were not then fulfilled:
"Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King" (Psa 48:1-2). Nor were they fulfilled in the personal ministry of Christ.
Rome, not Jerusalem, was the center of the world. The people of the whole earth did not take joy in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was "the city of the Great King" only in prospect, for they crucified their King, and He did not reign in Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is not now "the joy of the whole earth." The holy mountain is traversed alike by pagan, Mohammedan, infidel, Jew and stranger. Nor does the great King reign there. No, this blessed prophecy that "Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King," simply means that God has eternal purposes for Jerusalem. It will be "the city of the Great King," "the joy of the whole earth," when Christ rules from the throne of David over the whole earth. The Pillar of Cloud and Fire Which Led Israel in the Wilderness, Will Be Over Jerusalem in the Kingdom Age When Christ returns, when Israel is gathered, judged, and then, as the Holy Spirit tells us through the prophet Isaiah, the pillar of cloud by day and the fire by night which led Israel in the wilderness, will abide over the city Jerusalem. Read now the last of that fourth chapter of Isaiah.
"When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of JERUSALEM, from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of MOUNT ZION, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain." This prophecy is to be fulfilled in Jerusalem. It could not be the heavenly Jerusalem, because it will come when "the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning." The heavenly Jerusalem has never needed purging, and the Heavenly Jerusalem has never had the blood of violence.
Israel is to be regathered from all the earth, and in the wilderness of wanderings they will be assembled where the Saviour will plead with them face to face (Eze 20:33-44). At that time the rebels will be purged out and the remnant will "pass under the rod" and God will bring them "into the bond of the covenant." When that judgment shall have taken place, when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and purged the blood of Jerusalem, then we are told that the eternal presence of God over the city will be pictured day and night by the pillar of cloud and of fire. When the Lord brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, we are told that:
"The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people" (Exo 13:21-22). The Lord was in the pillar of cloud and of fire. With that pillar of cloud He led them in the daytime; in the fire He watched over them by night. From that cloud and fire He defended them against the Egyptians (Exo 14:24-25). It was the visible evidence of His presence with His people. That cloudy pillar descended, after Israel’s sin in the matter of the golden calf, and from that pillar, the Lord talked with Moses (Exo 33:9-10). Over the tabernacle, day and night, was this cloud of the Lord in the sight of all Israel and through all their journeys (Exo 40:38). God was leading His people from their bondage in Egypt into their own land. But again the children of Israel are in bondage.
- They are scattered throughout all the world.
- They have no temple, no priesthood, no sacrifices.
- They have rejected their Messiah and crucified their King.
- The wrath of God is upon them. But one day He will gather them again to the "wilderness of wanderings," purge out the rebels, cleanse the city Jerusalem, and entering that lovely city, will make that His home, His throne, His temple! At that day, the cloud of the Lord will cover every dwelling place in the city of Jerusalem; and at night, as a flaming fire, He will be visible above all the city where He has sworn that forever His name, His eyes, and His heart shall be. Then Jerusalem shall be the city of the great King. The River That Shall Flow From Jerusalem in the Kingdom Age How many details God gives us about the marvelous kingdom age that is coming!
It is sad that multitudes of Bible students have ignored or explained away the wonderful promises of God’s Word concerning the coming kingdom. But it is a happy truth that enough is revealed for the careful, prayerful, humble student of God’s Word to have a clear picture in mind concerning this future kingdom. Many physical details concerning that kingdom, the nation, the throne, and the city Jerusalem cannot be imagined as having taken place. For instance, the pillar of fire and cloud prophesied in Isa 4:5 has never stood over every dwelling place in Jerusalem. So it is with the wonderful river of water which shall flow forth from Jerusalem during the kingdom age. At present there is no river at Jerusalem and there has never been. The nearest river is the Jordan, several miles away. The tiny brook Kidron (Cedron) which flows on the east of Jerusalem, has never been called a river, and it is not in the city of Jerusalem. But the Scriptures tell us that the time will come when a great river will flow out from the city of Jerusalem, originating where the temple did stand. The Garden of Eden had a river which "went out of Eden to water the garden" (Gen 2:10). The new Jerusalem, the heavenly city, will have also a river, "a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb" (Rev 22:1).
Now study with me a bit and learn the interesting fact that these two, the Garden of Eden and Heaven, will both be united in the literal city Jerusalem, in Palestine, and that the river of water of life will flow out from the site of the ancient temple there. The Psalmist tells us: "There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High" (Psa 46:4). The time mentioned is future. In your Bible you will find the words "there is" in italics, meaning those words were supplied by the translators. The time is not present, but future. "The streams whereof SHALL make glad the city of God." The rest of the Psalm makes clear the time spoken of is future.
- Verse Psa 46:5 of the same Psalm says: "God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early." The river will make glad the city when God is in the midst of her.
- Verse Psa 46:6 next tells about the moving of the kingdoms and the melting of the earth when God shall speak.
- Verse Psa 46:8 tells of the terrible tribulation He will bring before His kingdom.
- Verse Psa 46:9 then tells us that "He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire" (Psa 46:9). When God makes wars to cease, then the Kingdom of Christ will be begun.
- Verse Psa 46:10 tells us that God "will be exalted in the earth." So during the kingdom age, we are told about "a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High." That River Begins to Flow at The Second Coming of Christ The river mentioned is a literal river of water, and the city of God is the literal city of Jerusalem. How do we know? Because the Scripture expressly tells us how that river will spring up at Jerusalem, at the second coming of Christ.
Zec 14:1-21 is a clear picture of the return of Christ and of the battle of Armageddon. Compare it with Rev 19:11-21 and you can see that it is the same. The Lord will return from Heaven to reign on the earth. He will bring with Him His saints (Zec 14:5) who will have been resurrected and translated before this and caught out to meet Him in the air. He will find Jerusalem compassed with the armies of the Antichrist and the city itself falling under the onslaught of the armies of the world, under the leadership of the wicked Man of Sin (Zec 14:1-2). The Lord will fight against these nations and utterly destroy them in that day (Zec 14:3, Rev 19:20-21). The Lord shall stand with His feet upon the Mount of Olives in that day (Zec 14:4), and violent physical changes shall take place, "and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley."
It will probably be caused by an earthquake, and the people shall flee from it as they have from other earthquakes (vs. Zec 14:5). And then in the same chapter we are told about the river that shall spring up in Jerusalem, in that day, when the Lord shall be King over all the earth.
"And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out •from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one" (Zec 14:8-9). The river mentioned is a literal river, just as the Mount of Olives mentioned in the same chapter is a literal mountain. The literal city Jerusalem shall be attacked by the armies of all nations and rescued by the Lord from Heaven. And IN THE SAME DAY the living waters shall flow out from the literal city of Jerusalem. This is the "river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God." The River Will Spring Out From Under the Temple at Jerusalem
Several chapters in the book of Ezekiel are given over by the Holy Spirit to a detailed discussion of the temple, the sacrifices, the worship and other physical details concerning Jerusalem and the land during the reign of Christ. Eze 34:1-31, Eze 35:1-15, Eze 36:1-38, Eze 37:1-28 repeat again and again the promise of the restoration of the people of Israel to their land as a nation. Eze 40:1-49, Eze 41:1-26, Eze 42:1-20, Eze 43:1-27, Eze 44:1-31, Eze 45:1-25, Eze 46:1-24 tell about the temple at Jerusalem, the place of God’s throne there, the altar and worship. Then Eze 47:1-2 tell the details about that wonderful river, "the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God," mentioned by the Psalmist.
We are told:
"Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar. Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side."
Ezekiel tells how the angel measured the water and found it first ankle deep, then to the knee, then to the loins, and then water deep enough to swim in, too deep to wade.
Other verses of the passage continue the story of how this wonderful river will flow out from Jerusalem and go to the sea. Zec 14:8 tells us that the waters will divide "half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea," that is, half to the Mediterranean Sea, and half toward the Dead Sea. Ezekiel tells us how the waters from this river that make glad the city of God will heal the Dead Sea until it will not any more be the salt sea as it is now.
Eze 47:8-11 say:
"Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from En-gedi even unto En-eglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt" (Eze 47:8-11).
Note that this is not somewhere up in the heavens, but on earth. This river will flow out from Jerusalem, and half of it will go eastward into the Dead Sea. There fish will live and fishers will fish and spread their nets. Salt marshes will be left, because in the kingdom age we will eat the fish and salt them with salt even as Jesus ate a piece of a broiled fish and an honeycomb (Luk 24:42-43) after His resurrection. This is the river of water of life. In the same chapter, Eze 47:1-23, Eze 47:7 and Eze 47:12 say:
"Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other" (Verse Eze 47:7).
"And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine" (Verse Eze 47:12). The river is the river of life. The trees are the trees of life, for the same story is told in Rev 22:1-2. Compare Eze 47:7; Eze 47:12, with Rev 22:1-2.
"And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations" (Rev 22:1-2). This passage in Revelation certainly is telling about the heavenly Jerusalem which will come down to earth from God the Father and will abide on the site of the old Jerusalem as the capital city of the world. The book of Revelation makes clear that this heavenly Jerusalem will come down at the close of the thousand years’ reign of Christ when the Father comes down to take over the reins of government with His Son (1Co 15:24; Rev 21:2-3), but during the thousand years and afterwards, the promises are to Jerusalem, just the same. The river will flow from Jerusalem, making glad the city of God. And this river of water of life will have beside it on either bank, the trees of life which bear twelve manner of fruits and whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.
Honest hearts will rejoice in the promises of God, and will long to see that lovely city Jerusalem when it becomes actually "the joy of the whole earth . . . the city of the great King," with the river of God to make it glad! (Psa 48:2). The prophecy of Zechariah has much to say about that coming time when, during the Great Tribulation, Jerusalem will be oppressed under the Antichrist. The name Jerusalem appears in those brief fourteen chapters thirty-nine times! Read the following verses: "In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness" (Zec 13:1).
Zechariah tells of the trouble in Jerusalem at that time, but he also tells of how salvation will come to Jerusalem, when her King comes.
Zec 14:1-21 tells how the Antichrist will bring his armies against the literal city of Jerusalem to sack and destroy it, but the same chapter tells how Jesus will return in person to save that literal city Jerusalem. Then "his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives which is before Jerusalem on the east" (Zec 14:4).
Then Zec 14:16 tells us, "And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles." In that day Jerusalem will reach her destiny and her promised glory! With saved Israel, living in their own blessed, happy land, again a land flowing with milk and honey, the Lord Jesus shall rule, and we are told that:
"In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the Lord’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts" (Zec 14:20-21).
It becomes clear to the dullest mind, if it be opened to spiritual meaning at all, that God’s promises to Israel are literal. The promises about the land of Canaan are literal. The promises about Jerusalem, or Mount Zion, are literal. Literal Israel according to the flesh will be brought back to their own land and there gloriously converted. Christ, the great Seed of David, will sit on David’s literal throne in the literal city Jerusalem. What a glorious kingdom is coming! The New Jerusalem on the New Earth to Be at the Same Site For a thousand years we are told that Christ will reign in person on the earth before He shall turn the kingdom over to His Father (Rev 20:4; Rev 5:9-10; 1Co 15:24). In the judgment that will follow on this earth, every disease germ, every thorn and thistle, and every mark and remnant of sin must be utterly destroyed by fire. God has purposes for this planet that cannot be fulfilled as long as one sinner sets foot upon it, as long as a single mark of the curse remains upon it. 2Pe 3:10-13 tells how "the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." In that holocaust the present heavens, or firmament, will be changed, and everything that fire can destroy will be destroyed, while the entire human race is present, out in space, at the judgment of sinners ("in the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men"). But we have seen that God cannot do away with the elements that make up this world. He has promised to Abraham and his seed forever the land Palestine. He has set His name perpetually and forever at the place of the temple in Jerusalem. The temple has been destroyed three different times, and at least one other is to be built and fall; but God’s name is placed at Jerusalem, His eyes are over it, His heart is centered upon it forever, as He Himself said (1Ki 9:3; 2Ch 7:16). The land must be made fertile and inhabited again, and God Himself has promised to plant it again like the Garden of Eden. Eze 36:33-35 says:
"Thus saith the Lord God; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited." But what about Jerusalem? As God will make out of the old material a new earth, so God will provide a new Jerusalem. No sooner does God tell us about the new Heaven and the new earth, than God inspired John to tell of that new city Jerusalem which God will bring down and place where He has placed His name forever! In Rev 21:1-3 we are taught that:
"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with him, and be their God[/i]." The New Jerusalem is the Father’s house of many mansions of which Jesus spoke in John 14:2! This marvelous city, the home of God Himself, will be brought down to earth to be literally another Jerusalem at the place which God chose thousands of years ago. All of God’s promises about Jerusalem will be fulfilled. The promises are literal-they will be fulfilled in a literal city, a literal Jerusalem on a literal earth, in the literal land of Palestine. Then God the Father, Himself, as well as the Son, will be King, in "the city of the Great King."
There are some who teach that the New Jerusalem, that great city of God twelve thousand furlongs square, is simply to hover above the earth. Some teach that this heavenly Jerusalem will be inhabited by those converted in this gospel age which they call "the church," and that the earth will be inhabited by the Jews. But the Bible makes no distinction. In the first place, that heavenly city is really "the new Jerusalem." When Chicago was destroyed in the great Chicago fire, a new Chicago was built on the site of the old Chicago. Jericho was destroyed by the children of Israel when they entered the land of Canaan. Later a new Jericho was built on the site of the old Jericho. So the New Jerusalem will be really Jerusalem, and on the site of the old Jerusalem. It must be a city on the earth, then. When the Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos was shown "that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God" (Rev 21:10), he evidently saw that city as coming down to rest upon the earth and to be literally a new city Jerusalem at the ancient site. The ancient site itself is sacred. God’s promises refer continually to "Mount Zion," and to "this place," and throughout Bible prophecy, Jerusalem is regarded as one eternal city, to be destroyed and then rebuilt, but continuing to inherit the same blessed promises.
Actually the New Jerusalem, that wonderful city described in detail in Rev 21:1-27 and Rev 22:1-21, will be the capital city of the new earth when it is purged from every taint and stain and mark of sin and disease and death. Christ Himself must reign there, sitting on David’s throne. And we who suffer with Him shall also reign with Him on the earth.